Nina Cushman, one of 29 seniors who received Global & Environmental Studies Certificates (GESC) in a ceremony on Monday, May 19, said it was difficult to sum up what the program meant to all who participated. 

She did her best to try, though, as one of two speakers at the ceremony. 

“I think it is fair to say we’ve all learned, simply, that the world is messy,” Nina said to the gathered students and faculty. “There will always be problems to solve, and there always will be gaps to fill. But I don’t mean this in a cynical, demoralizing way. I mean this to prove that the work we’ve done and are doing, and what we’ve learned and are learning, matters. It shows that our world and society is always going to need thoughtful, informed action. ... This program hasn’t given us all the answers, but it has taught us how to ask better questions and approach the world with curiosity, care, and purpose.” 

The GESC program, administered by the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies, combines coursework, co-curricular engagement, and experiential learning. The mission is to “develop global and environmentally engaged citizens.”  A capstone project concludes the program. 

For her capstone, Nina created educational data maps of the Connecticut River, using Arc GIS technology, for the new Connecticut River Collaborative. The collaborative includes Loomis Chaffee, Deerfield Academy, and Northfield Mount Hermon, each located near the Connecticut River and committed to protecting it and educating students on its history and biodiversity. 

As part of the ceremony on Monday, students engaged in “take action” initiatives. Taking action is one of the tenets of the program. Some students participated in a resource recovery initiative, helping to set up the end-of-school-year collection of unused toiletries and food. Students put posters and bins in the dorms. Collections go to those in need. Other students helped spread wood chips along pathways of the Loomis Chaffee community garden and stacked wood at the LC Sugar Shack, where maple syrup is produced. Senior Jake Delcampe organized a work crew for the Greenhouse.  

Jake, who was a speaker at the ceremony, said he always has been interested in plants, and his family nurtured that interest. But it wasn’t until the end of his junior year that he first set foot into the Greenhouse on campus, a place where he would later spend hours and hours. Jake said his College-Level Environmental Science course with Jeff Dyreson, associate director of the Alvord Center, brought out his passion for the subject. He also went on an International Education Program trip in 2024 to Italy, where in Sardinia he saw that one needed only to walk a few feet to get the ingredients for dinner.  

“Suddenly, the different parts of my journey as an environmental scholar were starting to click together,” Jake told his fellow students. “Building on my experiences from my GESC trip to Italy, my [College-Level Environmental Science class], and all the passion I had as a young kid, I eventually decided to send a pivotal email.” 

That email went to Sara Griggs, an associate director of the Alvord Center, and was titled: “Use of the greenhouse.” 

“That,” he said, “would change the course of my high school career.” Jake went on to pursue both a Guided Environmental Research Project and a GESC capstone project. “I was able to expand my focus toward alternate forms of growing. Along with several of my peers, I helped to rebuild the aquaponics system as well as set up three new hydroponic systems in the library,” he said. 

Michaela Howe’s capstone project related to sustainable architecture. Taking a short break from working on the community garden, she said she enjoyed the program and the flexibility it gave her to pursue an interest. She will major in architecture at Columbia University. “Being a part of the GESC program has made me even more passionate about architecture,” she said. 

Other capstone projects this year ranged from a multilingual children’s storybook prompted by a trip to the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, where the students studied immigration and the challenges immigrants encountered when building a future for their families; to the relationship between nature and mental health. View portfolios of all the projects.

“It is always great to see such dedicated students exploring different avenues for global and environmental studies,” said Marley Matlack, the Christopher H. Lutz Director of the Alvord Center. “I love seeing their projects and how creative they are, and how excited the students are to take action and to think about things they can do in the future.” 

Richard Karrat, the GESC coordinator, said this year's class was a great group of students. 

“The purpose of a lot of the projects is to educate our community or get our students out into the community or create something that will have a lasting impact on our community, and I saw a lot of that this year,” Richard said. 

2025 GESC Certificate Recipients

Victoria Amador  

Maya Bell 

Georgia Biasi 

Anna Bolwell 

Rachael Budd 

Dito Chipfunde-Nong 

Catherine Collins 

Nina Cushman 

Jacob Delcampe 

Meredith Doherty 

Genevieve Flowers 

Sydney Hallowell 

Sarah Hayes 

Jingyi He 

Michaela Howe 

Oliver Iverson 

CeCe Johnson 

Rachael Lantner 

Adelaide Looney 

Leysana Masagutova 

Shaylee Moreno 

Jack Muhlhauser 

Jaime Patton-Martin 

Hnin Pwint Phyu 

Harava Rahardjo 

Christian Santilli 

Samuel Slater 

Christine Wu 

Jessica Zhao